The school offers undergraduate and graduate level courses, for their BS, MS, and PhD degree programs. Known for most of its life as the Computer Science & Engineering (CSE) department, it was elevated to a school on its 50th anniversary in 2017.[2] It is housed in two adjacent buildings: the Bill & Melinda Gates and Paul G. Allen Centers for Computer Science & Engineering.
History
The Computer Science Group was created in March 1967 as a graduate program under the Graduate School. In 1973, the Department of Computer Science was established as an inter-college unit between the College of Arts & Sciences and the College of Engineering. An undergraduate major started accepting students in the 1975–76 academic year. In 1989, the department became a unit of the College of Engineering and the Computer Engineering degree program was added. The professional master's program, which features evening courses, debuted in 1996. The five year combined BS/MS program started in 2008.[3]
On March 9, 2017, CSE's 50th anniversary, the UW Board of Regents voted to elevate the CSE department to a school, naming it after Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen with a $50 million endowment from Allen and Microsoft.[3][2]
As of 2023, the Allen School employs an equivalent of 92 full-time employees across tenure-track, teaching-track, and research professors.[4]Turing Award laureate Richard M. Karp was on the faculty from 1995 to 1999.[4] Over 650 PhD students have graduated from the school.[3]
Buildings
Exterior and interior of the Paul G. Allen Center for Computer Science and Engineering
In 1964, the UW Computer Center was constructed near Roberts Hall in a building then known as Roberts Hall Annex, now known as Wilcox Hall. Offices for the Computer Science Group were housed in Roberts Hall, until they moved to Sieg Hall in 1974 when it became a department.[5]
They stayed there until the Paul G. Allen Center for Computer Science & Engineering was constructed in 2003. The building was completed in 2003, along with the adjoined Electrical & Computer Engineering building. It was designed by LMN Architects.[6]
In 2015, the school started the campaign to build a second building, sited across the street from the Allen Center, on the site of the decommissioned UW nuclear reactor. This 135,000 square foot building was designed by LMN Architects, who also designed the Allen Center. It contains a 250-seat auditorium, two large classrooms, undergraduate work spaces, and office space for faculty and graduate students.[7]
Bill & Melinda Gates Center construction site after removal of decommissioned nuclear reactor at More Hall Annex
Funding was secured through a combination of $41.5 million in public funds and $68.5 million in private donations, mostly from Microsoft, Amazon, and Google, totaling $110 million. Although Bill & Melinda Gates did not donate any money themselves, a group including Microsoft and 13 couples who called themselves "friends of Bill & Melinda Gates" succeeded in naming the building after the couple.
On February 28, 2019, the Bill & Melinda Gates Center for Computer Science & Engineering officially opened, with classes starting inside the following quarter.[6][8][9] The site formerly housed More Hall Annex, which contained a nuclear research reactor.[10]
View from rooftop of CSE in 2008. Old nuclear reactor building still visible across the street where CSE2 is now
Academics
The school offers two bachelors of science degree programs: computer science and computer engineering. 90% of undergraduates are enrolled in the computer science major.[3] The size of the undergraduate program has risen rapidly, more than tripling from 558 students in 2012 to 1,996 in 2021.[11]
Admissions
Admission to the undergraduate majors is highly competitive. Since 2017, computer science has been the most desired major for confirmed incoming freshman at UW.[11] Applicants to both majors are considered as one pool, so neither is more competitive.[12] There are four pathways to admission into either major:[13]
Direct to major for freshman applicants
Current UW student admission
Washington State Academic Redshirt (STARS) Program
Transfer admission
For most of the school's history, current UW student admits made up the majority of students. Starting in fall 2019, the school shifted its admission strategy from prioritizing current UW student admission to admitting the majority of its undergraduate majors directly admission for freshman applicants.[14] Of those current UW students who are admitted, the Allen School gives preference to "interest changers" - people who only discover an interest in computing after starting at UW. In the 2019-20 admissions cycle, about 200 students were admitted directly, 100 students were admitted from current UW students, and 60-70 students were admitted as transfer students. As of 2023, most undergraduates are direct admits, and about 25-30% of majors are current UW student admits.[12] In 2021 and 2022, only 9% and 8% of direct admits were accepted.[15][13] The direct admission pathway is designed primarily for Washington state residents, and approximately one quarter of applications from in-state are accepted.[13]
The STARS program is a program in College of Engineering designed to support students from low-income, first-generation, and other underserved backgrounds. The term "redshirting" is derived from athletes in US college sports who delay their entrance into games by spending a year training. Similarly, students in the STARS program spend a year in STEM courses with a cohort of STARS students before entering their undergraduate STEM major.[16] Transfer admission is for students transferring to UW from another college. Applicants must submit a supplemental application to the Allen School in addition to the UW transfer process. Preference is given to students transferring from a Washington state community college.[12]
Demographics
In 2022, the Allen School had a total of 1,930 undergraduates majors, with an incoming class of 526 students. The incoming class was made up of 391 direct admits, 44 transfer students, and 91 students from other pathways. The gender breakdown for undergraduate students was 34% female and 66% male. The racial demographics of undergraduate majors were 78% white and Asian, 10% Black, Hispanic, Latina/x/o, American Indian, and Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, while the 12% of students who are international were not counted. Washington state residents made up 82% of undergraduates and the remaining 6% of domestic students were from out of state. 20% of undergraduates were eligible for the federal Pell grant.[1]
Although the Allen School's percentage of women in undergraduate programs (34%) outpaces some other computer science schools in America, it falls behind other computing programs at UW, including Human Centered Design & Engineering (66% female)[17] and the Information School (41% female)[18]
